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I’m stuck on the intro to this one. I really just want to jump right into the good stuff but years of English classes have ingrained this need in me to have an intro. A hook. And I’m stuck. Which is silly because this is my blog and I can write whatever way I want, right? Jeez, here we go. We have been hosting/rooming with our friends Luke and Kaitie for the past month. They both race bikes professionally (cool friends are cool, am I right?) and they are the most considerate house guests/living buddies you could imagine. Collin and I concluded that the worst part about having them around all the times is that they do too much for us i.e. dry our dishes and help with groceries. Like, seriously what is that? Does that even count as a complaint?

But honestly, it’s been so much fun to have people around to do cool stuff with, make good food with, and generally have a ton of fun with (please don’t ever leave. I’m kidding. No I’m not.)

Look at them, aren’t they cute!?

ANYWAY what I actually want to write about is this past weekend In Which We Went Camping and Also to a Cocktail Party. You know our motto, don’t ever say no to anything even if trying to do it all causes some mid-Saturday morning stress (classic).

So, on Saturday we made it up to the woods around 2:30 PM. Finding a first-come-first-serve campsite was too easy and we did a 4-5 mile hike down to the actual Muir Woods that afternoon. We didn’t see any Ewoks but we did almost convince Kaitie that they are real animals 😉

Magic, pure magic

Saturday night, Collin and I also had his employee appreciation party in the City for Apple. So, when we got back from our hike, we changed into cocktail attire, and headed to the California Academy of Sciences in SF. You did read that right, Apple rented out a MUSEUM for the WHOLE NIGHT and then gave us FOOD AND ALCOHOL and said HAVE FUN. It rocked. Although, as the resident vegans, we were a little disturbed by the fresh sushi being served in the aquarium part of the museum. It was just really weird. But we had a great night and it was an amazing experience!

Aquarium selfie!

Lots of Apple people and also the Rain Forest room which was sick!

We called it a night around 10:30, changed back into camping clothes on the side of the road, and drove the 40 minutes back up to the mountains to enjoy a wonderful night’s sleep in the woods. Shout out to Mom and Dad for getting me a great sleeping bag for Christmas this year! It rocked and I was so cozy!

Sunday we woke up, had a classic camping breakfast of tea and oatmeal, and then did a hike out to Red Cliff Beach. California is a crazy state. One minute we’re in woods that are straight out of Jurassic Park, and then next we’re on a beach getting sunburnt. Like what is this place? Why aren’t you all out here already?

Red Cliff Beach

We explored Sausalito on our way home (a little disappointing, a lot overly bourgeois) and found an insane hot dog joint in SF that also had an extensive Vegan menu. Seriously, Underdogs – so good. So vegan!

GROUP PIC!

Collin took all of these pictures since he’s recently added Amateur Photog Extraordinaire to his many talents/interests/hobbies. Look at more of his pictures here!

This is a post on Life Lately. Our friend, Brent, flew in last Wednesday night and the three of us have just been having a grand old time back together again doing our usual ridiculous stuff. One of the last adventures we had together in NH was to hike to the top of Mt. Carrigain on a Friday night, starting around 9 PM and reaching the summit around midnight where we then camped. You know, normal stuff. SO, knowing that that kind of nonsense is our M.O., hopefully you won’t think we’re too bananas by the end of this post.

SATURDAY:

We drove down to Santa Cruz Saturday morning since we’re only about an hour away from the beach and the forecast was GORGEOUS (75 and sunny, sorry New England!) We walked down and around the beach, watched some surfers, hopped some fences, and watched some CRAZY waves for about 3 hours.

My favorite guy getting his photography sea legs, if you will 😉

For lunch we drove up Hwy 1 until we found some beach access and ate a picnic of Collin’s homemade Japanese curry (you’ll have to ask him for the recipe or be patient and keep your fingers crossed that I post it here!) while watching dolphins play in the waves. YEA. DOLPHINS. OVER LUNCH. NO I DIDN’T TAKE ANY PICTURES, WHY DO YOU ASK?

After lunch we drove maybe 30 min to a Redwood grove and basked in the glory of the biggest and bestest trees at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. We didn’t pay the parking fees, don’t tell!

THEN (I know you’re getting tired but stick with me) we drove 4ish hours including a Chipotle break up into the Sierras. We had originally planned to spend the whole weekend up in the mountains but with the snow the way it was (read: nonexistent), it didn’t seem worth it. We got to the hotel around 11:30 (I think?) and then went on a nighttime hiking adventure so C and B could play with some nighttime astrophotography. It was very cold, very dark, and very very awesome.

SUNDAY (I know, you never thought we’d get here):

The boys went snowboarding. I decided that it wasn’t worth it for me to buy a lift ticket and instead spent some time reading outside in the sunshine (it was 65 degrees out) and took a little snow hike in the afternoon. Even with the unseasonable warmth, there was still several inches of snow cover everywhere and I couldn’t make it very far without snowshoes. But heck, any day is a good day to be outside!

Snowy, solo woods exploring. My feet got really wet.

MONDAY:

After work we drove up for dinner in SF. We went to Herbivore which was not bad but not great. The key to a Great vegan restaurant is that they don’t try to be Not vegan. Like, having Penne and “Meatballs” on your menu is not something a Great vegan restaurant would do. Still, it is a good compromise to go to these types of vegan restaurants when you are hosting non-vegans. But I digress.

After dinner we drove around the city for a bit. We drove down Lombard Street which I had never heard of before and which was a little terrifying. Our end game was driving over the Golden Gate and up into the Marin Headlands park for more night photo taking. It was such a calm, warm night it felt like summer time stomping around the park. We were there until about 11:30 PM and then had an hour drive home. Worth the exhaustion, without a doubt.

Brent’s asking me to stand awkwardly in his pictures has totally gone to my head/I think I could really make it as a professional model.

Probably the most exciting part of my weekend was making Brent’s website portfolio with my Stance in the Redwoods. Check out the rest of his work at www.brentdoscher.com. He’s real good with a camera.

Also check out Collin’s blog soon, he’s got a lot of sick shots waiting to be posted as well. I assume. This could be awkward if he never puts them on the internet……………………………

It’s been so so great having a friend here to explore our new turf with. I’m looking forward to more visitors and for repeat trips (cough Brent cough)!